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Impressions of a Hero’s Journey seeks to translate the adventure, heroism, mystery, and drama of fantasy into music. The piece follows no particular story arc, instead laying out a patchwork of musical impressions reminiscent of the various scoops rampant in an epic tale. It begins with the forging of a mysterious expository section highlighting several different pockets of instrument groups. This slowly rises until it explodes into an aggressive climax which introduces the dramatic first motif amidst an intense, driving soundscape. The drama falls, and solo piano introduces a second, more adventurous motif. The two themes weave together throughout the middle section which is seasoned with rhythmic what not in the percussion and pizzicato low strings. The ideas range from aimless flutters to heroic bombasts, changing with the mood and the energy before giving way to a repeat of the explosive loud idea which introduced this whole section. Having gone there and back again, a recapitulation of the first mysterious section follows, ending with a haunting perfect fifth leaving the piece open-ended, waiting for the next adventure.
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